Reflections
by frostychicken
Summary: Just little tidbits of the Naruto-verse running through my mind. A little divulging of the characters who may seem transparent, but have concrete developments.
1. Uchiha Sasuke

Betraying the little people who cared for him was the worst decision he made, Sasuke mused.

 **. . .**

When Sasuke was twelve, and betrayed his village, his team, and his Sensei, he did so without a backwards glance. Sure, he felt _a little_ bad about betraying his team, but he was only doing so because he wanted to kill That Man and avenge his clan. Sure, he felt _a little_ bad about KO'ing Sakura when all she wanted to do was help, but it couldn't be helped- she was a liability to bring along. He felt _a little_ bad about using Kakashi's jutsu against a teammate, but was all so he could gain power to kill That Man and avenge his clan.

Sliding his fist through Naruto's left lung made him feel _a little more_ than bad, but the only thought in Sasuke's mind was to kill That Man. In order to kill That Man, Sasuke had to gain power, and what better way to gain power than defeat Naruto, the Dead Last? What better way to gain power than defeat Naruto, who somehow had a special, a secret way of triumphing when he was a millimeter away from death?

What better way to gain power, than to beat his best friend? After all, if he couldn't defeat _Naruto_ of all people, how could he expect to kill That Man? So, at twelve years old, Sasuke proceeded to leave the village with no regrets and no backwards glances.

No backwards glances, Sasuke firmly told himself. He told himself this even though the expression of betrayal on both Sakura and Naruto's face when he KO'd one and nearly killed the other haunted his nightmares.

 **. . .**

When Sasuke was finally away from that blasted village, away from _those_ people, he expected himself to grow strong. After all, he had a mission- to avenge his clan by killing That Ma- no, he would say his name. He would avenge his clan by killing his older brother, _Itachi._

Fighting along side Orochimaru (the snake Sannin was terrifying) made him shudder. He didn't have the faith that Orochimaru would have his back as Naruto or even Sakura had. He knew Orochimaru would have no quarrels stabbing him in the back, because Orochimaru had stabbed his _own_ teammates in the back and betrayed them... something Sasuke had done as well.

But when he did not grow as fast as he anticipated, he grew frustrated. _Why, why_ did Naruto grow strong but not _him!?_ Wasn't he the prodigy? The Uchiha? He then proceeded to train himself to near exhaustion. He _would_ attain power. He would kill his older brother.

Naruto's words always came back to him, though- "in order to grow, one must want to protect his precious people."

Sasuke couldn't do that because he'd betrayed his.

 **. . .**

Temporarily fighting alongside Naruto again, after five years of trying to kill him, gave him a peace of mind he didn't know he needed. Fighting alongside Naruto and Sakura was like his senses clearing after a bad case of the flu. Fighting alongside Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi was like having a brother, potential lover, and parent by his side. Fighting alongside Team 7 to kill Madara was like the old times.

He knew what he had to do after Naruto sealed Madara into an immortal portal of doom. He knew what he had to do when Sakura asked him if he was coming home again. He knew what to do when Kakashi gave him a hesitant smile of gratitude. He knew what he had to do when Naruto thumped him on his shoulder and smiled brighter than a solar flare.

After all, Itachi was still not dead and if Sasuke could not even kill Naruto, he was worthless.

He sliced Naruto's neck with his katana. Among the chaos of defeating Madara, and the War Hero Naruto's assassination, Sasuke had ample time to slip away from Kakashi's lunge and Sakura's kunai.

He felt a twinge of resentment of killing his best friend, but he brushed it aside. At least Naruto died with a smile on his face, in battle- that is what Sasuke used to placate himself. He would kill Itachi now with no problems.

 **. . .**

In the ripe old age of retirement, Uchiha Sasuke softly sighed in regret. His eyes, the ones which he was so prideful of, were faltering with vision. His speed, something he used to kill Kakashi of the Sharingan, was reduced to a wobble as his knobbly knees punished him. His arm that he used to strangle Sakura was now a mere stub thanks to the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade's anger.

His katana that he used to kill Naruto with; however, was shiny as that dreadful day fifty years ago. When he was seventeen and stupid. When he was seventeen and obsessed with power, revenge.

When he was seventeen and the murderer of his best friend, Uzumaki Naruto. Betraying the little people who cared for him was the worst decision he ever made, Sasuke mused. There was no one left to fight him now, no one left to challenge him, no one left for him to call a brother.

The katana was shiny and clean because that was the only thing he took careful care of. The only thing that had last touched Uzumaki Naruto's living breathing body. The source of his regret. The hand that strangled Sakura was decimated, the speed that killed Kakashi was gone, but the thing that assassinated Naruto was still there. A reminder of his stupidity.

Sasuke only hoped his friends would forgive him in the afterlife. With that fleetingly happy thought, he closed his blind eyes and clutched the katana. As he drifted off, he swore he could hear seventeen year old Naruto running towards him, a seventeen year old Sakura, and twenty seven year old Kakashi smiling softly at him.

Uchiha Sasuke officially felt worse than maggots, worse than the bacteria unfortunate enough to be on Madara's skin. His team, the same one who he betrayed, forgave him like the caring people they were.

* * *

 **I thought I'd post the little tidbits of the Naruto-verse running through my mind. These have no particular order and some may not follow cannon.**


	2. Hatake Kakashi

Naruto didn't really despise Kakashi; no, he just wished Kakashi-Sensei treated Team 7 more equally.

. . . .

For the Chunnin Exams, when Kakashi disregarded training Naruto for Sasuke, Naruto's smile wavered _just a little bit_ and he put up a childish front to hide his hurting. The more Naruto smiled, the less his heart was hurting because of pain and more because of the facade. Kakashi had no problem handing Naruto off to another sensei, ignoring Sakura (even though she _had_ been disqualified from the Exams, that didn't mean Kakashi had to ignore her completely), and no problem training Sasuke for a month and that stung. After all, Kakashi- _Sensei_ was the sensei of all of _Team 7,_ not just the sensei of the one Sasuke Uchiha.

When Kakashi belittled Naruto's fight-of-the-year against the then bloodthirsty Gaara, Naruto was more than hurt. After all, Naruto had beaten Gaara, not Sasuke. And Naruto had enough manpower to summon Gamabunta, the Boss Toad who worked with the Fourth Hokage! Once again, Naruto smiled as wide as he could so the tears didn't slide down his face.

When Kakashi objected to Naruto learning Rasengan (his _father's_ jutsu!), but had no quarrels teaching Sasuke _Chidori_ (an assassin technique), Naruto was annoyed.

However, when Kakashi-Sensei remained silent when Naruto was brought back with a fucking hole in his chest, the size of Sasuke's fist, in the shape of a chidori, all the chummy feelings Naruto had for the man dissipated. Even Sakura! The girl whom Naruto _loved_ wanted- no, begged Naruto to return Sasuke to the village, all Naruto could think was, "it's always about Sasuke. It's always has been him and always will be."

The thing that got to Naruto was the fact that his father, The Fourth Hokage (Naruto was _ecstatic_ when he found out) was the sensei of Kakashi-Sensei. He'd taken in Kakashi when Kakashi's father had committed suicide and took care of him. Which means it was Kakashi's duty to aid Naruto when _his_ father passed, something which he didn't do.

Kakashi was a good sensei when he actually taught, but he didn't do much teaching. He reiterated teamwork, friendships, and comradeship, but he failed to do so as he taught. By teaching only Sasuke, he ostracized Naruto and Sakura. Oh Naruto didn't _hate_ Kakashi, he knew Kakashi-Sensei was a good man who saw the horrors of war as a mere child, Naruto just wished Kakashi-Sensei thought more of him and actually taught him.

Naruto didn't really despise Kakashi; no, he just wished Kakashi treated Team 7 more equally. After all, what was the point of a sensei when he couldn't even treat his students the same?


	3. Nara Shikamaru

Naruto Uzumaki, Shikamaru Nara thinks, would make an exceptional Hokage.

 **. . . .**

He would make an exceptional Hokage not because he was powerful, oh boy was Naruto a powerhouse, and certainly not because he was the Nine-Tailed Fox's jailer. No, Shikamaru thinks. Naruto would make an exceptional Hokage because of how kind and dedicated he was in anything he set his mind to. Achieving his dreams would be a prime example, inferring from his horrible childhood.

Naruto Uzumaki would make the best Hokage out of all of the five previous ones because, simply put, he cared. Not just about himself, no, Naruto cared about all of his friends, especially Sasuke Uchiha. He cared about Jairaiya of the Sannin, his short lived godfather, he cared about Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage and one of the Sannin, and he cared about his parents, whom he had never met.

But what made Naruto Uzumaki the most peculiar was the fact that he considered the Nine-Tailed Fox, an entity of pure evil and hatred, his friend and cared for it. Loving something of pure evil and turning it good, stands on its own- no explanation necessary.

Shikamaru gazed at him. With sweat dripping down his forehead, a Rasengan in his palm, and a look of determination on his face, Naruto was a force to be reckoned with.

With how he was leading the troops into battle, Naruto encompassed what it meant to be a Kage. What a Kage should do. How selfless a Kage should be.

He didn't realize it, but Naruto unconsciously had people gravitating towards him. Granted, in his childhood, people were drawn to him because they wanted to hurt him. But now, the same people wanted to follow him. They were willing to lay down their lives with Naruto as their leader.

Naruto had this charm, this charisma about him that was hard to resist. His presence alone commanded respect and his power called out to the people.

Glancing away because of the intensity of the flames shrouding Naruto's body, Shikamaru let a small smirk slip through his normally passive face. He didn't smirk because of the fire cloak, he smirked because with Naruto on their side, victory was inevitable.

Slow and tedious, but inevitable.

Oh yes, Naruto Uzumaki would make an exceptional Hokage indeed.

 **. . . .**

 **posted: 12/22/15**


	4. Uzumaki Kushina

Nothing hurt Kushina more than the kunai of the boy she considered a son stabbing her in the heart.

. . . .

Uzumaki Kushina feared nothing more than losing her precious people. Aunt Mito had said to fill herself up with an abundance of love so the hatred of the Nine Tails wouldn't consume her and that's exactly what Kushina did. She didn't fear for herself, oh no; she was a _Special Jonin_. She wasn't worried about what the Nine Tails would do if he was released because her and Kuruma had a petulant understanding. She was more worried about her precious people dying off in missions.

Such was the life of a ninja in the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Kushina did not have a team of genin under her tutelage, but many of her friends did. She was an exception to the three-man squad all graduated _Genin_ were put into, as well; being the container of the Nine Tailed Fox restricted her from being on a team. However, working with many ninja during her _Chunin_ and _Jonin_ missions reaffirmed Sakumo Sensei's teaching of teamwork. Instead of isolating herself, Kushina surrounded herself with her precious people. Precious people like Hatake Sakumo Sensei and his (now) frail wife (because of a mission gone wrong) and Grand Aunt Mito, and her deceased parents.

Gradually, her precious people expanded to include Uchiha Mikoto, her best friend, and Minato (her love, her dear Minato), and in time, his wayward students, Hatake Kakashi (and his rival, Mighto Guy), Uchiha Obito, and Nohara Rin. Oh yes, Kushina had many precious people in the Village Hidden in the Leaves and she would do _anything and everything_ to make sure they were safe and happy.

. . . .

Kushina worried how the happy-go-lucky Obito would deal with his emotional wounds as well as his physical ones. She worried once Obito's happy facade came off, he would be shattered beyond repair. She knew what it felt like to lose her parents and she knew _knew_ Obito cried himself to sleep at night. She worried if he had enough to eat after missions and if he had a warm place to sleep- for Obito was an orphan and although he was an Uchiha, he was still a blooming flower who needed the proper soil and water for his roots to grow and stem to strengthen.

Kakashi, while being Sakumo Sensei's son and a prodigy at that, was the opposite of Obito. After Sakumo Sensei committed suicide, Kakashi was left all alone- whereas Obito whose parents perished on _ANBU_ Missions, was alone from the start. Kakashi had known what family was, what it felt to have a father and mother, and he was left all alone in the harsh ninja world.

Kakashi was like a cactus, strong and prickly. He was self-reliant and refused help, but that's what made Kushina worry even more. She worried if he was eating _enough_ , if he was sleeping _enough,_ if he was surrounding himself with his friends because Kushina knew being all alone was the _worst_ and it physically _hurt her chest_ to be all alone to mourn and take care of herself.

And Rin, sweet sweet Rin. She was in a big house all by her lonesome because her mother worked long hours at Konoha's hospital. Rin had a family, but her family was never there when she needed them. Once, on her way home after her after-mission-check-up at the hospital, Kushina made a pit-stop at the Nohara residence. She found the door unlocked and little Rin, exhausted from her mission out on the kitchen floor, a bowl of porridge in her hands.

Kushina made up her mind.

Waking Rin up, _("Okaa-san? Oh, Kushina-san! Gomennasai, come in, please!")_ she coaxed the girl to follow her to the Hatake Manor. She forced the child prodigy to tie on his mask (without Rin seeing his face; her delusions on why Kakashi wore the thing would wear off and she would be terrified at the self-inflicted scar that went from the corner of Kakashi's left lip to the side of his right cheek, where he tried to claw off his father's blood on his face with a kunai).

Although Kushina had forced a reluctant Kakashi to join them, she heard him whisper a small _"Thank you, Kushina-okaa-san"_ and hid her tired grin. Kushina trooped her companions along as they made their way (Rin, sleepily, Kakashi, reluctantly, and Kushina, in exhaustion) to the Uchiha District to pick up Obito.

Finding Obito was harder than fetching the other two as they both lived in houses. Kushina knew Mikoto would offer Obito her house, but the young boy was to God damn _stubborn_ to accept- even more so than Kakashi and _he_ was the cactus!

After ten minutes of walking, the trio found the young Uchiha sprawled on a bench, his goggles covering his eyes and his _hitai-ate_ on his forehead. In a manner only Obito would be sleeping in, he had one leg spread out on the bench while the other was bent at the knee, one hand on the bent knee and the other comically falling out from the side of the bench. He was snoring and had a little bubble of snot coming out from his nostril.

It was almost funny, if the gravity of the situation hadn't hit the ninja who observed him. They all had, at least a roof over their heads while Obito had only the stars and the midnight inky sky.

After waking Obito, Kushina smiled at him and offered her place to sleep for the night. Obito hesitated (he wanted to sleep in a warm bed and Kushina was _Kushina_ , and Obito could trust her with his _life_ but he also didn't want anyone's pity) and was about to decline when Kushina lightly love-punched him on the head and told him _"it wasn't a question, it was a demand, 'ttebane!"_

Walking from the Uchiha district to her small apartment would take whatever strength she had left, plus her exhausted companions were in no shape to make the trip, so Kushina _shunshin'ed_ the young shinobi with her to her front door. She smirked at Obito's childish begging of _"teach me, please Kushinaaa-chaan!"_ to Kakashi's slightly awed expression and warmly smiled at Rin's look of adoration.

" _This is your house as well, ya know."_ Kushina knew the young shinobi would take care of her just as she had taken care of them.

When he got home, Minato's look of surprise at his team (no, his _family)_ snuggled together on the makeshift blankets and pillows on the living room floor was something Kushina wished she could document _forever._ At his questioning glance, she shrugged and simply said, _"they're my precious people, and I can't let them suffer,"_ and Minato _just understood._ He did not want his students, his family to go through the same thing. Instead, he joined them.

. . . .

When Kushina was informed about Obito's death, she screamed in despair until her voice was hoarse. When she learned of Rin's death _at the hands of Kakashi_ , she sobbed until she was hysterical. If this was how she was dealing, she didn't want to know how Kakashi would deal. Poor, _poor_ Kakashi was already _so alone_ and the loss of his best friends would _crush_ him. And Minato, her love- the loss of his students would _devastate_ him; he would blame himself. Always, he would think he was at fault.

Kushina decided she was going to be strong for all three of them.

She mourned for Rin and Obito. Every single moment, she remembered them and tired to _smother_ Kakashi and Minato with her love, because love had saved her from the Nine Tails and it would help her two precious people. Kushina still loved Obito and Rin, she mourned for them as though they were her own children.

So, imagine a twenty four year old Kushina's shock, momentsafter the Nine Tails (now her friend) was extracted from her, she was attacked by someone who looked _exactly_ like Obito. Someone who was already _dead._ Kushina thought she was about the throw up. How _dare_ this imposter decide to transform into _Obito_ of all people?! She was going to _kill this motherfucker._

While fighting the imposter, the fake Obito revealed things to her only the _real_ Obito would know of. He mentioned to her her fears of losing Kakashi, Rin, Obito, and Minato. He mentioned to her her fear of losing control of the Nine Tails. He _mentioned her home village._ He mentioned her fear of losing her family. He mentioned how young Obito (and the current one) loved Kushina like a mother and was sorry (so so sorry) for his actions. He said he was sorry for leading Madara Uchiha into the village and pretending to get caught in the sealing jutsu _just_ to kill Minato. He was sorry for stabbing Kakashi with a reverse _chidori_. He was sorry for letting Rin go into enemy territory when he could've saved her. He was sorry for killing baby Naruto.

Kushina froze.

Nothing hurt Kushina more than the kunai of the boy she considered a son stabbing her in the heart.

That was all the time new Obito needed to uppercut her until her teeth broke. Once his punch flung Kushina, he _shunshin'ed_ behind her and brought his hand out in front of her. He ran the kunai from her stomach to her heart, shredding her organs and threw her on the ground.

As the life began to subside from her tearing pale grey eyes, Kushina managed to swallow her sob and mutter, _"I loved you too, dattebane, Obito-chan."_ Choking on her blood, she brokenly whispered, _"Naruto-"_ she coughed, _"would have loved to have y-you as an older brother."_

It was Obito's turn to freeze.

" _I look forward-"_ Kushina was gasping for air at this point. _"To seeing you in the afterlif-"_ Kushina's head hit the floor with a slight thump.

With a dead Kushina on the floor next to him, and the blood of his loved ones (Minato Sensei, Kushina-okaa-san, Kakashi, Rin-chan, and baby Naruto) on his hands, Obito finally came to his senses and began screaming madly.

The genjutsu brainwashing him was finally broken, but so was Obito. He was in so much _pain,_ he wanted to rip his heart out to end the hurt, the sorrow, the regret. He stared at his arms, shrieking at how carelessly he killed the people he loved.

His screaming only stopped once White Zetsu found him and snapped his neck for being annoying.


	5. Hatake Kakashi pt 2

More often than not, Kakashi often saw her in his dreams.

. . .

Every night, routinely, at approximately 3:27 a.m., he would wake up shivering, covered in sweat, and gasping for breath. He would see the exact same thing every _night._ Rin would scream at him to save her, and just as he would run to her, she would jump in front of his _chidori_ , impaling herself.

He clenches his eyes shut in order to dispel the illusion, but she's always there, eyes glowing in pain and a grimace on her face. The image is painted into the underside of his eyelids and (every time he goddamned blinks, he sees _her_ ) he can't get rid of it- oh God, does he want to forget what she looked like moments before she committed suicide, but he also never wants to forget her beautiful face.

It would eat him up from the inside and he didn't know what else to do other than stuff the end of the kunai into his mouth and breath to God that his nightmares (the ones in his dreams and in reality) passed.

 _I should've told her,_ he regrets. _Too bad everything I've loved is dead._

When Hatake Kakashi was informed of her immediate death, he cursed everything, stopped believing in a God, and became the word _Shinobi._ Even as a seventeen year old, he knew hoping for her to be alive was futile, but he never gave up that she would walk into his life again (one day, oh _God, let her be alive)._

Swatting those thoughts away, he shifted in his bed, the end of one kunai stuffed in his mouth and another's blade digging into his palm.

Kakashi was destined to be alone- he had learned to accept that at the age of eight when his father killed himself, too.

. . .

"Ne, Kaka-Sensei," Naruto began in his sunshine of a voice (Kakashi wasn't intentionally being descriptive, there was just something about the son of his Sensei that embodied the word _sunshine.)_ They were walking together because they lived in generally the same area; thus, Kakashi found it no big deal to drop the blond off after their training session.

Looking over his Icha Icha Paradise, Kakashi grunted to let the young shinobi know he was listening. He grunted because the nightmare was still fresh in his mind and he knew the wobble in his voice would inform Naruto that something was wrong with him, and he would've been bombarded with questions because _Naruto was just like that._ Training for six hours had made him push the nightmare to the back of his head. Relaxing was causing it to come back. Even if he hadn't done the aforementioned things, Naruto still would have continued, _he was just like that._

"I was thinking," at this Kakashi raised a gray eyebrow.

"What an accomplishment, Naruto," he teasingly drawled and Naruto shouted in mock anger before settling down again.

"Have you ever fallen in love, Kakashi-Sensei?" The question caught Kakashi off guard.

"What brought this up?" He snapped his book shut and gave the blond his full attention.

"Well, Sakura-chan loves (no matter how hard she tries to deny) the Bastard, _even though he hurt her,_ and I _loved_ Sakura-chan, and Pervy Sage _still_ loves Tsunade-baa-chan, so I was wondering-"

Naruto abruptly stopped speaking, his blue eyes (an identical copy of Minato-Sensei) growing wide at the expression of pain on Kakashi's face. The blond wasn't very subtle at picking up vibes, something the Rookie Nine mocked him for, but even he knew the expression of pure pain on Kakashi's face was something of concern.

"You have, haven't you?" He whispered in awe.

"Once," Kakashi voiced, softly. His eyes glazed over and he clenched his teeth in order to control his emotions, not like Naruto could've seen it from his mask.

"Hey, Kaka-Sensei, you don't have to- I mean, you can-" Naruto sputtered and sighed. "You don't have to tell me if it's too painful, Kakashi-Sensei. I understand."

 _I understand,_ Kakashi sadly noted. He cleared his throat.

"It's okay, Naruto. I'm fine," Kakashi managed to smile, his voice _steady._

"Oh- okay," Naruto would've left it at that and taken his leave, because they were at his street, but the slither of noise that came out of Kakashi-Sensei caught his attention and Naruto staggered to a sudden halt.

"Kaka-Sensei?" He said before Kakashi dropped to his knees, eye shut (but Obito's eye was crying under the headband, not that Naruto _could see_ ).

"I'm fine, Naruto," he repeated himself, but Naruto's glare made him shut up.

"You're obviously _not_ , Kaka-Sensei," Naruto lifted him up. "My house is around the corner, you can rest there for a bit."

Kakashi clenched his eyes shut, wondering _how_ he had gotten lucky with Sensei's son, because Naruto _cared too damn much and everyone Kakashi loved died_ and Kakashi didn't know how he would handle another one of his family dying before him.

. . .

"Her name was Rin," he randomly blurted out, causing Naruto to pause mid-step. "The girl-" at this, he paused to steady himself. "I've been in love with since I was a teenager was named Rin."

Noticing his cracking voice, Naruto plopped down on the ground in front of Kakashi and encouragingly nodded. "Take as long as you need, Kaka-Sensei."

"She was part of my genin team and I killed her." _I said it, I said it, I said it. I killed her I killed her I killed-_

Kakashi's ramblings were cut off by Naruto's indignant voice.

"No, you didn't."

"You weren't _there,_ do not speak of what you don't know, _boy,_ " Kakashi snarled but Naruto stood strong.

"I know you, Kakashi-Sensei. You wouldn't so something like that."

"She loved me and I didn't realize I felt the same until after she died."

"You haven't moved on from her death, have you?" Naruto asked, and his tone of voice and expression reminded Kakashi of Sensei and he let out a staggering breath.

"No."

"It'll take some time, but you're strong, Kakashi-Sensei."

"Sensei woulda been proud of you, Naruto," Kakashi managed to croak and Naruto beamed in pride.

. . .

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!" The loud thumping on his door awakened him from his comatose state. "KAKA-SENSEI, OPEN UP!"

"Ma, ma, I'm coming Naruto." Of course it was Naruto, who else would scream at _six in the fucking morning?_

Just as he opened his door, Naruto came barreling inside.

"Kakashi-Sensei!"

"Indoor voice, Naruto."

"She's _alive!"_ Naruto disregarded Kakashi's previous request.

"What are you screaming about?"

"Rin, Kaka-Sensei!" Naruto excitedly let out. "She's alive!"

"This better not be one of your pranks, Naruto or else I will _chidori_ you myself," Kakashi threatened but Naruto ignored him again.

"The Rin who killed herself on your _chidori_ wasn't _your_ Rin! That was an imposter!" Naruto rushed out, waving his hands maniacally. "Look!"

At this, walked in a person Kakashi hadn't seen in over eight years and he felt as if he'd been drop kicked by Naruto.


End file.
